John Huehnergard
Professor Emeritus — Ph.D. 1979, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (Semitic Philology), Harvard University

Contact
- E-mail: huehnergard@austin.utexas.edu
- Campus Mail Code: F9400
Interests
Semitic languages and linguistics, historical linguistics, writing systems, and ancient Near Eastern history
Courses
MEL 380C • Akkadian I-Wb
40184 • Fall 2020
Meets M 1:00PM-4:00PM
Internet; Synchronous
MEL 383 • Akkadian II
41754 • Spring 2017
Meets T 3:30PM-6:30PM CAL 323
HEB 380C • The Bible In Hebrew IV
41330 • Fall 2016
Meets W 1:00PM-4:00PM MEZ 1.104
MEL 380C • Akkadian I
41605 • Fall 2016
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM BEN 1.118
MEL 380C • Semitic Languages
41610 • Fall 2016
Meets TH 3:30PM-6:30PM PAR 214
MEL 321 • Lost Languages & Decipherment
40901 • Spring 2016
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM CAL 422
GCII
(also listed as AHC 330, C C 348, LIN 350, MES 342)
MEL 380C • Classical Ethiopic II
40930 • Spring 2016
Meets T 2:00PM-5:00PM CAL 422
MEL 380C • Classical Ethiopic
40755 • Fall 2015
Meets MWF 2:00PM-3:00PM PAR 214
UGS 303 • Writing, Scripts, & Literacy
63290-63345 • Fall 2015
Meets MW 12:00PM-1:00PM ART 1.102
GC
ID
MEL 380C • Akkadian III
41940 • Fall 2014
Meets T 2:00PM-5:00PM UTC 1.136
UGS 303 • Writing, Scripts & Literacy
65605-65660 • Fall 2014
Meets MW 12:00PM-1:00PM ART 1.102
GC
MEL 321 • Lost Languages & Decipherment
42285 • Spring 2014
Meets MWF 10:00AM-11:00AM CAL 200
GCII
(also listed as AHC 330, C C 348, LIN 350)
MEL 383 • Akkadian II
42330 • Spring 2014
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM MEZ 1.104
MEL 380C • Akkadian I
42210 • Fall 2013
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM SZB 434
UGS 303 • Visible Speech Writing Systems
66895-66950 • Fall 2013
Meets MW 12:00PM-1:00PM MEZ 1.306
HEB 380C • Akkadian IV
41545 • Spring 2013
Meets T 3:30PM-6:30PM MEZ 1.118
HEB 380C • Classical Ethiopic
41560 • Spring 2013
Meets MWF 1:00PM-2:00PM CBA 4.336
MEL 321 • Lost Languages & Decipherment
41780 • Spring 2013
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM BEN 1.124
II
(also listed as AHC 330, C C 348, LIN 350)
HEB 380C • Akkadian III
41335 • Fall 2012
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM MEZ 1.104
HEB 380C • Classical Ethiopic
41350 • Fall 2012
Meets MWF 1:00PM-2:00PM CAL 323
UGS 303 • Visible Speech
65400-65470 • Fall 2012
Meets MW 12:00PM-1:00PM UTC 2.102A
HEB 380C • The Bible In Hebrew IV
41415 • Spring 2012
Meets M 3:00PM-6:00PM GAR 2.124
UGS 303 • Visible Speech
64240-64265 • Spring 2012
Meets MW 2:00PM-3:00PM CAL 100
HEB 380C • Akkadian II
41775 • Spring 2011
Meets TTH 5:00PM-6:30PM PAR 305
HEB 380C • Akkadian IV
41777 • Spring 2011
Meets M 3:00PM-6:00PM CAL 221
HEB 382C • Comparative Semitic Grammar
41790 • Spring 2011
Meets TTH 3:30PM-5:00PM PAR 214
ISL 373 • Queen Of Sheba In Hist/Legend
41945 • Spring 2011
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM WAG 420
GC
(also listed as AFR 374C, J S 364, MES 320, R S 353, WGS 340)
HEB 380C • Akkadian I
41377 • Fall 2010
Meets TTH 5:00PM-6:30PM CAL 200
HEB 380C • Akkadian III
41378 • Fall 2010
Meets TTH 3:30PM-5:00PM CAL 200
MES 381 • Prosmnr Ancient Near East Stds
41715 • Fall 2010
Meets M 5:00PM-8:00PM MEZ B0.302
UGS 303 • World's Writing Systems
64850-64860 • Fall 2010
Meets MW 3:00PM-4:00PM WAG 420
ISL 372 • Queen Of Sheba In Hist/Legend
42080 • Spring 2010
Meets MWF 2:00PM-3:00PM MEZ 2.122
(also listed as AFR 374C, MES 320, R S 353, WGS 340)
ANS 361 • Visible Lang: Scripts/Literacy
31114 • Fall 2009
Meets MWF 11:00AM-12:00PM PAR 201
(also listed as C C 348)
Publications
CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO VIEW SOME OF MY PUBLICATIONS -
2013 The Biblical Prohibition against Tattoing
2013 The Etymology of Hebrew and Aramaic ykl ‘to be able’
2013 Hebrew Loanwords in English
2013 Hebrew as a Semitic Language
2012 An Introduction to Ugaritic
2012 Third Person Possessive Suffixes as Definite Articles in Semitic
2011 Proto-Semitic Language & Culture; Semitic Roots
2011 Phyla and Waves: Models of Classification. Semitic Languages, ch. 9
Many more publications can be found here.
Also, a complete list of my publications can be found on my cv, here.
Undergraduate Students
"The students who register for my upper-level course on “Lost Languages and Decipherment” share a love of history and language, but they come to the course from widely different backgrounds. And since the course carries an Independent Inquiry flag, the students undertake in-depth research into a particular topic, becoming experts in that topic and in how to do academic research. Those factors mean that the students invariably learn a lot from each other, and that I invariably learn more from them than they learn from me."
Graduate Students
Current Students
William Bibee
William Bibee received his B.A. in Classics, Linguistics and the Plan 2 honors major. He is a student of both Indo-European and Semitic linguistics but is currently interested in what he calls an "Integrative Linguistic Methodology" in the ancient world.
You can check out William's full graduate profile here.
Philip Zhakevich
Philip's interests include Hebrew Bible, Hebrew languages, comparative Semitics and linguistics. He is finishing up his disertation, The Tools of an Israelite Scribe: A Semantic Study of the Terms Signifying the Tools and Materials of Writing in Biblical Hebrew.
"It has been wonderful to work with Professor Huehnergard as my dissertation adviser. He is a sea of knowledge when it comes to the topics related to my dissertation. I appreciate his constant support and guidance throughout this process."
You can check out Philip's full graduate profile here.
More About Professor Huehnergard
A Few Pieces Featuring John Huehnergard and His Work:
Wondering What A Semitic Language Looks Like?
To get a further idea of what an ancient Semitic language is and what Professor Huehnergard's work consists of, check out an ancient cuneiform text that Professor Huehnergard published here.
Featured in COLA's newsletter, Life&Letters
Recently, our own John Huehnergard was featured in the College of Liberal Arts Newsletter, Life&Letters, in an article regarding his research on the letters that adorn our main building of the University of Texas' campus. Check out the article and learn about "the iconic letters" at the center of the University of Texas' campus.
A Festschrift in John Huehnergard's Honor
In recognition of John Huehnergard's many years devoted to scholarship, a book of articles was published in his honor and presented to him on his 60th birthday. The cover of that book can be found here and a copy of the full Festschrift can be found here.
An Honorary Doctorate
Professor Huehnergard received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Chicago at its June, 2014 Convocation ceremonies. The following citation was read by the President of the University of Chicago: "John Huehnergard is a singularly influential leader in the field of Comparative Semitic linguistics. His groundbreaking work on language has impacted the research of scholars of the history, literature, culture, and archaeology of the civilizations of the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean world."